May announced on Tuesday (April 18) that an election would be held on June 8, describing it as necessary to “secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond”. This was despite her categorically denying there would be a snap election earlier in the year.

Many in the industry expect bookings to slow, judging by sales trends seen during previous elections and last year’s EU referendum campaign.

Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, told TTG: “It [the calling of an election] is a disaster for the travel industry, as we know historically that people stop spending money on holidays and other big purchases during an election campaign.

“It creates uncertainty... The only good thing is that the election hasn’t been called for July 8 [extending the campaign period further into the summer].”

Ashley Quint, holiday designer at TravelTime World, added: “This [an election] always causes uncertainty and I don’t think the summer is going to be very good. It’s already been up and down in the last few months.

“It was the same last year with the referendum – people wait until it’s over before booking. Lots of people are releasing their brochures for next summer in the next couple of weeks and it will be interesting to see how they get on with early bookings.”

Mark Duguid, managing director of luxury operator Carrier, agreed that the election was “bound to put a dent in sales”, adding: “the silver lining is that it’s a short campaign”.

Bowen suggested the election could also delay the next stage of the consultation process into the new EU PTD, which is due to be introduced into UK law from January 2018.

“We are running out of time for the PTD – we were meant to be having a second consultation from BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) soon, but it now looks like that will not happen before July,” he said.